The subject matter discussed in the background section should not be assumed to be prior on merely as a result of its mention in the background section. Similarly, a problem mentioned in the background section or associated with the subject matter of the background section should not be assumed to have been previously recognized in the prior art. The subject matter in the background section merely represents different approaches, which in and of themselves may also be inventions.
In conventional database systems, users access their data resources in one logical database. A user of such a conventional system typically retrieves data from and stores data on the system using the user's own systems. A user system might remotely access one of a plurality of server systems that might in turn access the database system. Data retrieval from the system might include the issuance of a query from the user system to the database system. The database system might process the request for information received in the query and send to the user system information relevant to the request.
One illustrative use of the foregoing database systems involves the determination of a forecast. One example of a forecast is a sales forecast involving a predication of an amount of sales a salesperson will have in a given amount of time. To date, such forecasts have been determined only for a single person over a predetermined time interval. Unfortunately, any attempt to do otherwise would result in a large amount of data that may be difficult to process. There is thus a need for addressing these and/or other issues.